Opposites Attract
by XxGoddess AthenaxX
Summary: Tory Richards didn't want to spend the first week of her summer vaction in space with her brother or Johnny Storm. But when she becomes a superhero, will she use her new powers to cool Johnny down? Rating subject to possibly change later
1. Summer Vacation

Hey. This is an idea I had since I've read so many stories like this and authors haven't really finished them. Please be nice and read and review. It has got my OC in it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the F4. If I did, Johnny would so be mine

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Summer Vacation**

Summer was supposed to be the best time of the year. You're supposed to have fun with your friends and hang out at the mall or at the beach. Everyone was looking forward to that. After all it meant that there were no classes to attend or work to complete. The only person who wasn't looking forward to it was one Tory Richards. The reason- she was going with her only relative on some stupid space mission.

"Hey Tory, class's over," Casey said from in front of her.

"Huh? Oh right," Tory grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She walked out of the building at a snail's pace, covering her eyes when the sun hit them. She pulled out a pair of sunglasses that framed her eyes perfectly and put them on.

"So what have you got planned for tomorrow? We could hit the mall or even go to the house party that Evan's throwing," Casey suggested. Casey was her best friend from kindergarten.

"Sorry, I have to go to space with my stupid smartass brother," Tory complained. "He's dragging me with him and to worsen it I'm going to go mad because Johnny Storm is piloting the stupid shuttle."

"Johnny's not that bad."

"You should have seen the amount of girlfriends he had outside of school."

"It couldn't have been that bad."

"Yeah, especially when the first thing you see before breakfast on Sunday is him and some Barbie doll sucking face."

"Isn't that Ben?" Casey asked, looking at the figure towering above the students.

"Yeah, later," Tory called over her shoulder.

"Call me when you get back."

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"Reed, have I mentioned that I hate you?" Tory asked. It was the first day of the vacation and the day they were going to space.

"Seven times in the past six minutes," Reed told her.

"Well let's make it eight. Reed, I hate you for destroying my summer."

"My pleasure. Besides how many times are you going to get to go into space?"

"While listening to you talk about particle physics."

"You get to see Sue," Reed looked at Tory. She knew that he held the trump card in this argument. Sue had always been her favourite person, even when she and Reed broke up.

"You win this round. But I still hate you," Reed smiled at his younger sister.

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"I cannot do it?" Ben stated. The three of them were standing on one of the viewing decks at the Von Doom space centre.

"Do what?" Tory asked.

"I cannot take orders from the underwear model."

"Oh come on," Reed looked at Ben.

"He did wash out of NASA," Tory added.

"And snuck two Victoria Secret models into a flight simulator," Ben added.

"Youthful high spirit," Reed said looking at the two.

"Which they crashed into the wall," Tory looked at her brother.

"How can you crash a flight **simulator**?" Ben asked.

"How many times have I asked you to do something that you said that you couldn't do?" Reed looked at Ben.

"Five times," both Tory and Ben said at the same time. Ben walked down the stairs.

"I had it at four," Reed calculated.

"Well this makes five," Ben called over his shoulder. Tory smirked and followed Ben.

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"Captain on the bridge," Tory's head shot up when she heard that all too familiar voice. There was only one person in the entire world that could have such a voice filled with pride and ego- Johnny Storm. Tory heard him laugh and take a picture of Ben, who was standing upright.

"Save me now Lord," Tory muttered under her breath.

"Well, well, well. Reed, I didn't know that you had a pretty girlfriend," Johnny smirked. He walked all around Tory, checking her out.

"Nice to see you to Johnny," Tory said with as much sarcasm as possible.

"You know it," Johnny sat down in front of her.

"I can handle Mr Blond ambition, I can even handle Vic's gigantic ego but I don't know whether I should be doing Swan Lake in these," Ben held up a navy spacesuit.

"Who came up with these?" Tory asked, already in hers.

"Victors did," Tory snapped her head in the other direction. The owner of the voice was Sue Storm. "The synthetics work as a second skin."

"That keeps the hot stuff hot and the cold stuff cold," Johnny said.

"Wow, it must have taken you years to learn that," Tory smirked.

"Amazing," Reed commented as Sue rounded the corner. "I've been working on a formula for this."

"Looks like great minds think alike," Sue passed a second space suit to Ben and Tory and flung the last at Reed's head.

"Hey Suzie," Tory stood up and greeted her.

"How've you been Tory?"

"Could be better," Tory smiled.

"You're in college now right?"

"Yeah, I got straight A's and a scholarship to Berlin College. Only I gotta get Reed to let me go."

"C'mon, let's go catch up," Sue led the way and the two females laughed.

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"Just think, in a few minutes we'll be out of the Earth's atmosphere," Johnny said. "And you could ride next to me. That is if you're not scared."

"Nice try and I'm not scared," Tory looked at him.

"Fine then, we have to be in first so let's move," Johnny stood to the side of the door so the she could get in. Tory walked into the shuttle and up to the pilot's seat.

"Are we all ready?" Johnny asked. He was standing behind Tory. He walked around her and sat in the pilot's seat. "You're more than welcome to sit on the pilot."

"Thanks but I think I'll pass," Tory took the co-pilot's seat.

"Try anything with her and you're as good as dead," Ben said from behind Johnny.

"Wouldn't try less than one thing big guy," Johnny said cockily.

"Don't worry Ben, I can handle hot-shot," Tory smiled at Ben.

"Let's get going," Victor said from the back. Ben walked to the back and sat with the rest of them. Johnny looked at Tory and smirked.

"You sure you wanna ride front seat?" Johnny asked.

"How bad could it be?" Tory asked with sarcasm. She strapped herself in and waited for the final count down.

**TEN, NINE, EIGHT,**

_I can totally do this. It's like being on a plane into space._

**SEVEN, SIX, FIVE, FOUR,**

_Who am I kidding? I can't do this. I'm going out of the Earth's atmosphere!_

**THREE, TWO, ONE**

_Holy cow, I'm gonna die!_

**BLAST OFF!**

_Goodbye world._

Tory grabbed Johnny's hand and held on tightly. Johnny looked at the girl next to him. He saw a close her eyes and take deep breaths. He smirked at her and squeezed her hand as if to reassure her. Tory gripped his hand tighter and tried to relax. She opened her eyes and saw Johnny staring at her. He wasn't concerned with the fact that he was steering the shuttle with one hand and looking at her instead of the screen in front of them. She muttered the words 'show off' before trying to regain her composure.

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Tory walked next to Johnny to the main part of the space station.

"Next time you get scared, try not to break my hand," Johnny said.

"Sorry, I've never been in the shuttle," Tory apologised.

"You know you could have still sat on my lap," Johnny smirked at her reaction.

"You no good jerk," Tory tried to punch him on the arm but he ducked. Before she could pull her arm away, Johnny grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. They were an inch apart and could feel the others' breath. Tory let her face linger close to his before smirking. She pulled away just as Johnny came in for the kiss. "Keep trying Playboy."

"Oh, I will," Johnny smirked and followed her. Behind them Ben shook his head and continued to walk.

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"Ok Johnny, open the hatch," Tory looked up from the computer in front of her. Ben was in his space suit and ready to go.

"Yes Ma'am," Johnny gave Ben a mock salute and then opened the hatch.

"Don't try anything hotshot," Ben remarked and hopped into the vastness of space. Tory watched him out of envy.

"So…how's school- I mean college babes?" Johnny asked.

"Don't call me that and college is just great," Tory replied. "How're the blondes?"

"Mia, Sheila or Timia?" Johnny smirked at her reaction. "Joking."

"Ha. That so un-amusing," Tory rolled her eyes. Johnny just grinned and walked over to where Tory was standing.

"So how's space looking to you?"

"Just great. It would be even better if you weren't here."

"Ouch. That hurt me deep," Johnny held his hand over his heart in a dramatic style. Tory just rolled her eyes and looked at the monitor in front of her. She watched through the monitor as Ben planted the flowers. She was admiring him when she felt Johnny was really close to her. She shivered slightly when she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck.

"That looks so…boring," Johnny stated.

"Just think how much more fun it would be if it was you out there and you just floated away into the universe."

"Don't hate the player," Johnny said. He was so close to her face that as he spoke she could feel his lips brushing her cheek.

"Lame…" Tory bit down on her bottom lip as Johnny started to kiss her neck. As much as she didn't want to, she let her eyes close and enjoyed the feeling. She slowly opened her eyes when Johnny turned her chair around and started to move towards her lips. She mustered up enough strength to push him away.

"What?" Johnny asked shocked by her reaction.

"Don't…do that again," Tory said, trying to regain her composure.

"Why not?" Johnny asked, closing the space that she had put between them.

"Because I said so," Tory looked him in the eye.

"What makes you think that I'm going to listen?"

"I'll ma-"

"Ben you need to come back in," the pair turned to see Reed running towards them.

"I ain't finished planting your flowers egghead," Ben said over the radio.

"Ben, turn around," Reed said. Tory and Johnny ran to the hatch to see what Reed was talking about. They both gasped as they saw a red wave-like thing coming their way.

"I'm not gonna make it," Ben said.

"You gotta jump," Johnny said. Ben took a leap for the space station.

"Johnny, get ready to close the hatch. Tory, get help," Reed ordered. Tory ran down the halls as Johnny went to close the hatch. Tory stopped in mid-air as Ben was hit with the cloud. Tory felt her body go numb and cold. She felt like she was flying and freezing at the same time. Then nothing.

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Please r & r


	2. Vic's Resort

**Chapter 2**

**Vic's Resort**

Tory could hear the beeping of machines around her. She tried hard to ignore them and go back to sleep. Nothing could blot out that annoying sound and it was getting irritated. As a last attempt to go back to the dream she was having, she covered her head with the thick duvet that was on her. She had almost gotten back to her peaceful sleep when she felt something poke her. Tory growled as she sat up. She couldn't care less if her hair was in every direction or that she probably looked like a grizzly bear that had been woken (which in actual fact she felt like). She was about to yell at whoever woke her up when she saw who it was.

"Jeez, you sleep like a log," Tory groaned again and fell back into the comfort of the pillows around her. "Oh, come on babes. You should really consider getting up and coming to bed with me."

"Get lost Johnny," Tory moaned and covered her head with the blanket.

"Only if you get lost with me."

"Go screw the nurse."

"Too old."

"Then find a playmate and play dress up."

"I would if you would-"

"Shut up," Tory sat up and attempted to fix her hair. "Why don't you do something productive and watch TV. You've got a 60 inch in your room."

"It's boring," Johnny sounded like a little kid. He and Tory were the first ones to wake up since they arrived back on Earth.

"Do something then. You sound like a kid just by the way."

"No and I don't care. There's nothing to do since there's no way to get out of here."

"Go back to sleep then."

"It's four in the afternoon."

"Urgh," Tory groaned and got out of bed. She trudged to the bathroom and started to brush her teeth. Johnny stood in the doorway and looked at her. He looked at her from top to bottom (both literally and figuratively). Tory was tall but not as tall as he was. She had jet black hair (a quality she and Reed shared) and dark brown eyes. Her body was in a league of it's own. No one could have a more perfect body than her. Every curve was in the right place and every feature was perfect. She was so beautiful that gay men would go straight. "Would you cut that out?"

"Huh?" Johnny hadn't realised that he had been staring at her for the passed while. He hadn't even noticed that she had stopped brushing her teeth.

"Idiot. Come on. Let's go watch twelve more hours of reruns," Tory walked to her bed and fell onto it. She and Johnny had been watching reruns of old shows for the past week and a half. They mainly ended up passing out halfway through or having a competition to see who could guess the next line.

"Reruns are so boring," Johnny fell onto the bed next to her. He buried his head in the nearest pillow and closed his eyes.

"Well sitting and watching the news is worse," Tory looked at the man next to her. He was taller that her with short cut ash blond hair and unique blue eyes. "All you hear about is Victor or how our country's invented a new way to lose weight in two days."  
"Yeah," Johnny sat up and looked at her. They both kept eye contact for a while before he decided to speak. "Do you hate me?"

"Why do you ask?" Tory was confused by the randomness.

"You know…from two years ago," Johnny looked away from her.

"I…don't think so," Tory let her head fall into the pillow beneath it. "I accepted it so I don't hate you. Besides, Johnny Storm can never stay with one person for long."

"Ouch," Johnny realised the truth in that.

"Oh well, it's over and done with now," Tory put on a faint smile.

"Miss Richards," Tory looked up at the sound of the doctor's voice.

"Yeah."

"Your brother's awake," Tory smiled.

"C'mon," she jumped off the bed and pulled Johnny by the wrist.

* * *

Tory was perched on the end of Reed's bed. Once again she was pretending to listen while he talked about things that barely interested her. Her mind began to wander to Johnny. Tory shook her head as if to shake the thought away. She had a past with him and didn't need a future with someone like him.

"So what do you think Tory," Reed asked her. Tory snapped out of her daydream and looked at her brother.

"Sorry, what are we talking about?"

"You weren't paying attention, were you?"

"Not really."

"What's been bothering you? Since I woke up yesterday you've been really quiet. You and I both know that something's wrong, so what is it?"

"Nothing," Tory looked at the skeptical look on her sibling's face. "Really Reed, nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking about the trip to space and I guess I must have left my head there."

"Alright…" Reed gave her another skeptical look. "By the way, how's Johnny?"

"I dunno, I haven't seen him today. When I woke up he wasn't there," Tory noticed the look of shock on Reed's face. "It's not like _that_ Reed. What kind of a person do you take me for? He and I had spent the past few days living in the other's room, watching movies and reruns together. That's it."

"Fine, I believe you…for now."

* * *

Tory woke with a start when she felt someone tickle her.

"Go away Johnny," she groaned groggily.

"Ben's getting up soon," Johnny replied. "The doctors said so."

"Well wake me when he does."

"Get up. They're letting us roam around a little bit."

"Go away."

"Ok, but your diary is coming with me," Tory shot out of bed and saw Johnny with her diary. In a flash she was out of bed and running down the hall after him.

"GIVE THAT BACK NOW!" Tory yelled.

"Catch me first," Johnny yelled back over his shoulder. He smirked when he heard Tory scream a few profanities at him. As he rounded the corner he ran into Ben's room. Tory was a few metres behind him lost him after he rounded the corner. She slowed down and looked around for him and walked down the hall, looking for possible hiding places.

* * *

Johnny knew that he had lost Tory when he heard her slow down and call out for him. He smiled and walked further into the room. He saw Ben lying stretched out on the bed. He figured that he would help the big guy wake up sooner and have some fun at the same time.

"Hey Ben," Johnny shook him slightly.

"Where…where am I?" Ben asked even more groggily than Tory had been.

"Back on Earth," he replied. "Everyone else is fine."

"Everyone else? What's wrong with me?" Johnny could see that Ben was getting concerned.

"I swear to you Ben," Johnny sounded sincerely concerned, "that the best plastic surgeons have done everything humanly possible."

"What the hell's wrong with me?" Ben spotted a hand mirror on the table and made a move for it but Johnny grabbed it before he could.

"You might not want to do that. The doctors said that the shock could be-"

"Just give me the damn mirror!" Ben grabbed the mirror from his hands. Johnny stood up and backed away as Ben lifted the mirror to examine his face.

"Unfortunately they just couldn't do anything to fix your face," Johnny smirked and ran out of the room as the mirror cane flying towards him.

* * *

Tory heard a crash behind her and turned in time to see Johnny running out a Ben's room.

"Gotcha," Tory chased after Johnny and managed to tackle him to the ground. Thank God for having had a football player for a boyfriend in high school.

"Whoa babes. We don't have to do things so fast. I'd like to enjoy it," Johnny smirked. He was loving every second of the position they were in. Tory was on top of him and straddling him.

"Shut up and give me my diary," Tory made a grab for the book the he was holding above his head.

"You'll have to kiss me first," Johnny put on his playboy smirk. Tory narrowed her eyes and then smiled.

"As you wish."


	3. What's With You

Hey guys. Sorry for the late update but school's been a nightmare and I still have to prep for exams so I'm using a 'study-break' to update. Hope you enjoy.

Ok, this chappie is dedicated to everyone who reviewed the last chappie. You guys rock;b

Disclaimer: If I did, I wouldn't be writing this would I?

**Chapter 3**

**What's With You?**

Tory lowered her face to Johnny's and was so close that when she licked her bottom lip, she licked his as well. She moved her body a little and made Johnny squirm under her. She smirked when she felt his body relax and his hands make a move for her hips. Big mistake. As soon as she could, Tory grabbed her diary out of his hands and got up.

"Oh come on," Johnny complained as he got of the suddenly cold hallway floor.

"Don't look too disappointed," Tory said over her shoulder and laughed at his expression. "I don't fall for the same tactics twice."

Johnny smirked as he watched her walk away. He leaned back to get a view and smirked again once Tory was out of eyeshot.

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Johnny grabbed his jacket and shoes and sat on the bed. As he hastily pulled them on the nurse came into his room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do we think we're going?" she asked. Johnny looked up at the nurse. She was a pretty, curvaceous, _young_ brunette.

"I don't know if we've noticed," Johnny said, "but the hottest mountains are outside that window."

"This is not a ski resort you know," she said.

"Yeah but luckily grandma still sends care packages," the nurse out a thermometer in his mouth. "You know for an eighty year old woman she still does wonders."

"You're hot," she said, looking at him strangely.

"Well, so are you."

"No, you're burning up," she felt his cheek.

"Well, I've never felt better," Johnny moved her hand away from his cheek and stood up. "What time do you get off from work?"

"Four, why?"

"Tell you what? You meet me on top of the hill at four 'o five. That'll give you five minutes to freshen up. That's for you," he handed her the thermometer, "and this is for me," and kissed her.

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Tory changed into her bikini and put a top on over it. She grabbed a towel and her sandals and walked out of her room. As she did Johnny came walking towards her. He had a snow jacket on and a snow board in hand.

"Hey babes, wanna go boarding," he asked.

"One no, I'm going down to the pool. And two, stop calling me that," Tory said and walked passed him.

"Suit yourself," Johnny called.

"Sure will," she called back. The pool wasn't that close to her room so she had quite a distance to walk. It was worth it when she saw the size of the pool. If she had the option of living in Victor's resort for the rest of the life, she would. She slid her shirt off and climbed into the pool. The water was warm but crystal clear. As she began to swim, she felt the water cool down to a more refreshing temperature. After a few laps up and down the enormous pool, she stopped in the middle. She let the temperature cool her down before starting to swim again. She had barely moved when she found that she couldn't move any further. She looked up to find her body covered in snow and below her the water was frozen solid. She was freezing, yet her body wasn't shivering. Tory stood up and walked on the ice to her towel and shirt, both of which shattered at her touch. She walked to the temperature dial and found that it was also frozen. She stepped out of the pool room and began to shiver. She ran out and began to look for Reed.

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One minute Johnny Storm was snow boarding, the next he was flying through the air.

"Shit," Johnny yelled as he fell from a cliff. He landed in a heap of snow that had melted and pooled around him. Johnny looked all around him and found that the water was steaming and his clothes had been burnt off.

"Hey, are you ok?" his nurse asked. He still hadn't asked her for her name.

"Care to join me?" Johnny smirked when she dropped her ski poles.

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"Guys, you're never gonna believe what happened to me," Johnny said hobbling into the restaurant where Sue and Reed were sitting. He has the nurse's jacket around his waist covering him. "I can explain this."

"REED," Tory yelled running into the restaurant. "I'm freezing my a-Johnny what are you wearing?"

"Oh, right," Johnny was snapped out of his daydream. "What happened to you?"

"The pool froze over and my stuff shattered when I touched it."

"Clearly not all of it," Johnny mumbled. "I had fire like everywhere," he motioned to his entire body.

"Hey where's Ben?" Tory asked suddenly. Reed and Sue looked at each other in shock and the four of them headed towards Ben's room.

"The cloud fundamentally altered out DNA," Sue told Reed.

"That's ridiculous," Reed countered and looked back.

"Hey check this out," Johnny snapped his fingers and a flame appeared on them.

"Cut that out," Tory tried blowing the flame out while hugging her body only instead of the flame going out Johnny's entire hand froze.

"The cloud's fundamentally altered our DNA," Reed turned and continued to move toward Ben's room.

"What the hell did you do?" Johnny asked. Tory shrugged and rubbed her arms in hope to warm up. "Johnny snapped his finger again and another flame appeared. He held it to his frozen hand and let it thaw out.

"Stop that!" Sue turned around and snapped.

"Stop that," Johnny mimicked. Tory smacked him over the head and then resumed trying to warm herself up. "You know that if I'm this hot, I could warm you up in more ways then one."

"Pervert," Tory murmured. They arrived at Ben's room and Sue tried to punch in the access code. "Benny, open up."

"Yeah big guy," Johnny laughed.

"Would you shut up?" Sue snapped again.

"Could someone get this door open?" Reed asked to no one particular.

"If you would just give me a minute," Sue went back to trying to open the door. They all stopped and stared when Reed lowered his body.

"What the-" Tory watched as Reed slid his fingers under the door and unlocked it.

"Dude that's gross," Johnny commented.

"That's your face," Tory was about to say more when they heard a crash from inside. Reed looked at them for a second before running into the room.

"Whoa," Johnny looked at the gaping hole in the wall.

"Hey what's that?" Tory pointed to an orange blob running in the forest.

"Someone let their puke mutate."

"That's disgusting," Tory made a face at Johnny.

"Where do you think he's going?" Reed looked at them.

"Home," Johnny lifted a picture of Ben and Debbie.

"Well that ain't gon' end well," Tory shook her head. "Now can I please get some blankets before we go look for Ben? I think I'm back to normal temperature."

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"Shut up!" Tory hit Johnny in the head.

"Stop doing that!"

"Only when you shut up," the two of them had been arguing since they got into the taxi.

"Remind me why we didn't take another cab to meet Debbie?" Reed asked. Sue glared at him and shook her head.

"What's up ahead?" Tory asked. Reed looked out of the windscreen and saw nothing but traffic.

"Traffic."

"Why'd it stop smartass?"

"How should I know?"

"Find out."

"You're too bossy for your age," Reed grumbled. The four of them got out of the cab taxi and tried to get a look at what was ahead of them. "Sue, you're the only one of us that can get a close look."

"Are you mad?" Sue looked at him like he had grown an extra head.

"None of us can get passed the police officers except for you."

"All you can do is make things go cold," Johnny said.

"Shut up dip shit," Tory punched him in the arm and walked away from him and towards Sue. Sue began to concentrate and go invisible. "You may wanna ditch the clothes Sue."

"Oh, right," Sue began to remove her clothes. Just as she got down to her underwear, she turned visible. She moved to cover her body with her arms, only to get more attention drawn to her.

"You've been working out," Reed said.

"Shut up!" Sue snapped. "You try stripping down and have a hundred people staring at you."

"Sue," Reed was trying to look away.

"You're not visible anymore," Tory pointed out for Reed.

"Oh," Sue got rid of the rest of her clothes.

"I'm gonna need therapy after this," Johnny picked up her clothes and followed Sue through the crowd of people that she was pushing through.

"Split up and search for Ben," Reed said before Sue's clothes were grabbed from thin air and the two left Tory and Johnny alone.

"Guess it's just you and me," Johnny said in a sing-song voice.

"Shut up," Tory walked around a few cars and got on the bonnet of a taxi.

"What can you see?"

"There's too much smoke to see much."

"You could have just said nothing."

"There's a kid trapped over there between the cars," Johnny looked where Tory was pointing and ran to the child. As he was running, he smelt gas in the air and ran even faster. A tank of gas explodes near a flame and flames spread.

"Tory look out!" she hear Johnny yell at her. She saw the flames flowing around her and noticed that as the neared her, they cooled down and fanned out around her. Tory saw Sue throw a force field around most of it but a small part was exposed. She concentrated on everything around her and imagined the flames being extinguished by cool air.

"Whoa," Tory sank to her knees when she opened her eyes and saw that the fire was extinguished.

"You're safe now ok. Go and find your mother," Johnny showed the little girl how to get out. He ran to Tory and slid onto the bonnet next to her. "You alright?"

"I think so," she was breathing hard and her hands were shaking.

"We need to find the others," Johnny said and got off the bonnet and pulled Tory with him. He picked her up bridal style and carried her through the maze of cars.

"Thanks," she breathed out. She knew that she couldn't walk let alone stand on her own since her legs had given way. "Ben." She looked at the hulking orange figure in the middle of the crowd. She looked where he was looking and saw Debbie. Before she could smile and call out to Debbie, Debbie shook her head and took off her ring. Tory's heart sunk when she realised that is was her engagement ring that she had put on the floor. "Ben…"

"Isn't that Debbie?" Johnny asked. Tory nodded sadly and the two of them watched Ben go to pick up the ring. Tory held onto the ends of Johnny's leather jacket and closed her eyes.

"Can we go now?" she pressed her face into his chest in attempt to hide the sympathy she felt for Ben.

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"Don't touch me with that thing," Tory moved away from the paramedic.

"But miss-"

"I said don't-"

"She's fine," Reed's voice was weary. He knew about his sister's hatred for needles and stethoscopes. The medic looked at his superior before nodding and walking away.

"Thanks."

"Scared of the medics now?" Johnny asked from behind her.

"Go soak up the glory hothead."

"Don't mind if I do babes," he jogged out from under the tent before she could find something heavy to throw at him.

"Johnny, come back here," Sue, Reed and Ben followed him. Tory sighed and then followed them.

"Is it some kind of disease?" one of the many reporters asked.

"If it's a disease, then we got it good," Johnny smirked. Tory rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Mommy, see the pretty lady," Tory looked to the side and saw a child pointing to her. She smiled at her and moved towards her. "She and her boyfriend saved me." Tory suddenly felt eyes on her and wanted to blend in with the street below her.

"Let's go," Reed whispered in her ear. She turned away and began to walk behind him through the crowd.

"Reed, make them go away," Tory whispered.

"I can't exactly make the crowd disappear now can I?" Reed asked.

"I don't wanna be here," Tory jumped into the waiting taxi. Reed gave her a sympathetic look and sighed.

"You're gonna have to deal with it kiddo."

"I don't want to. Not for something so awful."

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"Bro you bring your work home," Johnny commented on Reed's apartment.

"I'm outta here," Tory began to walk up the stairs.

"Show Johnny to the spare room," Reed called after her. She felt Johnny's form behind her as she walked down the hallway.

"That's yours for now I guess," Tory pointed to a room to her left before walking into her room directly opposite it. "And stay away from mine."

"You and I both know that you don't mean that," Johnny's voice came from the other side of the door. Tory collapsed on bed and sighed. She opened her eyes and looked at her cluttered ceiling. It was mainly filled with posters and pictures of her and her friends but there were a few from her high school tournaments.

"I hate this room," she moaned and grabbed the pillow from above her head. She hugged it and sat up. She made a mental note to throw away all of her old stuff before she went back to collage for the new semester.

"Man you have a lot of stuff," Johnny said walking into her room.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from my room?"

"You didn't specify when."

"Get out."

"You've got a lot of trophies."

"Not for much longer."

"Why?"

"Because they're going in the trash. I hate them," to prove her point she swept her shelf off and disposed all of her trophies into the small bin next to her dressing table.

"Are you mad?" Johnny asked. He picked up one of the trophies that had an arm broken off and heated up his head to melt it back on. "These are your life."

"Used to be."

"What's with you?" he looked at her confused. "You used to live for skating."

"I'd rather not remember it. Now get out of my room," Tory walked out of her room. Johnny sighed and collected the broken trophies before exiting the room.

"What happened to you Tory?"

AN: Please review and vote on my poll. You guys all rock. Mwah


	4. Once Upon a Figure Skater

**Hey guys. It's been a while I know but it's not my fault (entirely). See I had exams and then there was the vacation in retirement village since I was staying with my grandparents (no internet or computer at my disposal:( And then I had my wisdoms removed and couldn't see past my cheeks...school and homework killed me as well. Stupid parents just had to live in South Africa where the holidays feel like a couple hours...**

Okay...enough of my excuses...Does anyone even read them???

I would like to thank penny3 for picking up my mistakes. I'm too lazy to change them but I'll get there...eventually. This chappie is dedicated to everyone that reviewed.

Disclaimer: I TOTALLY own Tory...sadly no one is willing to sell the rights to the Fantastic Four to me so I have to suffer...

**

* * *

**

Chapter 4

**Once Upon a Figure Skater**

Johnny yawned and ignored the sun that was pouring through the curtains.

"RRREEEEEEEDDDDDD!" Johnny shot up and was out of bed. He was down the hallway and outside the bathroom door when another yell assaulted his ears. "REED MAKE IT STOP! TAKE IT AWAY NOW!"

"Jeez Tory calm down," he opened the door and almost laughed at the sight. Instead of water, the shower was over flowing with snow and as the water came close to Tory's body, it turned into snow.

"Make. It. Stop. Now," Tory was covering her chest while the snow buried her from the navel down.

"Close the tap."

"Then hail comes out," Tory snapped. "Don't you think I tried that?"

"Then you won't mind if I come over there and turn it off."

"Hurry up," Tory moved as far away from the water as the snow would let her and watched as Johnny turned the tap off. He handed her a towel and held his hand over the snow and began to melt it. T-t-th-thanks."

"You're shivering," he stopped melting down the snow and pulled her out of the shower. "Hold still." He pulled her into a hug and shivered when her freezing cold skin contacted him.

"You're burning m-m-me you p-p-pervert," Tory shivered and pulled closer to get warmer. Her short sharp breaths began to even out slowly.

"Tory what happened?" Reed asked from the doorway.

"Y-y-you're a l-l-little late R-R-Reed," she hissed. She sighed when she felt her body reach a comfy temperature. "T-thanks J-Johnny."

"You can let go now," he replied, starting to feel a little cold. "You're starting to freeze me."

"S-s-sorry," she let go and glared at Reed before going to get her clothes on the rail. "URGH!" she shrieked as her clothes froze and shattered under her touch. She took a deep breath in before turning her head to face Reed. "I _hate_ you."

"Let's go to the lab and sort this out shall we. Come with Johnny in case she needs to get warmed up again," Reed moved out of the way so that the two of them could exit the bathroom.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"W-why is it t-that I d-don't feel normal like Johnny d-does?" Tory resorted to standing since she shattered the chair she first attempted to sit on and was too angry to try again.

"Well you told me that it felt normal in the beginning," Reed began. "I'm guessing that once you associated your hatred of ice with this, you began to hate it. The ice, snow and what ever other precipitation forms you can use is subconsciously rebelling because you hate it."

"So I'm basically like the freakin' precipitation part of the water cycle. I. HATE. YOU. REED."

"The only way that I figure that you can control it is to accept it as part of you," Reed looked at her weakly.

"Listen and listen good Richards," Tory walked forward and stood on her toes to add height. Johnny resisted the urge to laugh because Reed was more then a head and a half taller then her. "You **will** find a way to get rid of this or so help me I **will** control this thing and you will **never** be able to reproduce **ever**. You may be my older brother but so help me Lord- Urgh! I want nothing to do with this stupid thing."

"Tory-"

"You knew that I wanted to go to Miami with Chase and you forced me to go on your stupid science trip instead."

"I-"

"Ever since mom and dad died I did everything to make sure I wasn't a burden on you. I never asked for anything from you. I never bothered you while you were having the time of your life as nerd of the year. I worked for my scholarships so you wouldn't have to worry about me. Now I'm asking you to make this go away."

"Tory…"

"Just make it go away Reed," she was starting to tear. "I don't want to remember it. Please just make it stop."

"Tory," this time it was Johnny who spoke. He pushed off the desk he was leaning against and went to comfort her but she turned and ran off. "What happened to her?" Reed stopped looking at the spot where Tory was standing moments ago and looked at him.

"She can't skate anymore that's what."

"Why? She loved skating more then anything."

"All I know is that the Ice-Pro Finals two years ago was the last time she skated. She broke her leg and the doctor said that she would never be able to skate again. By the time her leg was fully healed she left for collage and she hasn't touched the ice since."

"She grew to hate it.".

Reed nodded and smiled weakly. "She wouldn't talk about it but all I know is that she was really pissed off that Sue and I had broken up that day before the finals. She came to the venue angry and left more angry then I've even seen her."

"Oh," Johnny turned and walked upstairs, leaving Reed to ponder away.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Leave me alone," Tory mumbled from under the blankets. Even though it was hot out and the sun flooded her room with warmth, she buried herself in blankets and held onto her pillow.

"You know Cuddles is getting lonely right?" Johnny's voice made its way to her ears. He lifted the blanket up and held up a worn-out blue teddy bear.

"Go away and leave Cuddles behind," Tory tried pulling the covers up but had no luck.

"I have fifty percent custody of him," Johnny sat on the edge of the bed before falling back onto her slowly and letting his head rest on her stomach. She was clad in a tank top and boy-shorts underwear that she managed to get on before hiding under the covers. "As I recall I bought Cuddles and his birth certificate has both our names on as parents."

"Get off me."

"Although his parents are currently separated, divorce has not been filed therefore there is time for them to get back together and the three can be a family again," Johnny said.

"Divorce filed and mother won full custody. Now give me my teddy bear back," Tory reached to get Cuddles but could reach far enough since Johnny's head was still on her stomach.

"On one condition."

"I'm listening."

"You," Johnny sat up and hovered over her, forcing her to lie down, "have to, and I mean have to," he closed some of the space between their bodies and pressed his lips to her collarbone, "tell me why."

"Why what?" Tory made no attempt to stop him or even get the bear back.

"Why'd you quit skating?" Tory instantly pushed him off her and sat up.

"No. I'm not telling you."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because…Urgh!"

"That doesn't warrant as an explanation," Johnny stood up. "Come on Cuddles, you and daddy are gonna have some bonding time."

"Damn it Johnny! Give me back my teddy bear," Tory jumped off the bed and chased him into his room. Johnny flopped on his bed and pulled Tory with him.

"Tell me."

"I quit because I felt like it."

"Lair."

"I got sick of the ice."

"Bull."

"I can't skate anymore okay?" Tory let out a frustrated sigh.

"Why?"

"I broke my leg in the finals and somehow it managed to splinter in a few places. The doctor said that my leg had been broken so many times that if I had to skate again the pressure would cause it to break faster and more often. Doc also said that competing was out of the question since I had a high chance of dislocating the bone and the friction would cause it to break again," she sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "If that had to happen, I could possibly damage the bone beyond repair and something like walking would hurt like hell."

"Tory-"

"With the amount of times my right leg had been broken it was understandable but at the time all that was going through my mind was how to skate using my left leg as my landing leg. I didn't listen and I went back on the ice only to fall and almost break my leg again because I was distracted. After that I hated the ice because I could never go back on it."

"It's my fault."

"Before the competition, I practised for hours making sure I would perform my routine perfect without falling or getting dizzy after my triple axel, triple toe loop, spin, double axel combo."

"Could that get anymore complicated?"

"I designed it to flow with the music and impress the judges."

"Obsess much?"

"I wanted so badly to become the international champion and get my scholarship that I ignored any pain and continued to put my body through hell," Tory shrugged and walked out of the room. "I messed up my own chances and nothing can change that."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"It is and you know it," Johnny reached out to pull her towards him but she stepped out of his reach.

"Even before then I was pushing myself too hard."

"Tory get ready so that can run tests on you," Reed's voice came from the end of the hallway."

"Yeah, yeah," Tory sighed before disappearing into her room to get changed.

"I fucked up," Johnny laughed and the situation and walked back into his room. "Cuddles, daddy really screwed things up."

* * *

AN: Well...I know it's short but I really wanted to post something up and this was kind of a filler because I can't seem to get the next part to come out the way I want it to...-sigh- Well so far the next chapter contains a lemon but I don't know if I want to change the rating so I gotta contemplate...help...** Your reviews gets you a hug from Cuddles so get you teddy hugs (they feel awesome;P**


	5. Break Me

-Creep in quietly-

Tory: It didn't work with your Naruto stories so why are you even bothering?

Simone: Shut it.

Johnny: People are looking at you funny.

Simone: I know -anime tears-

Tory: Moving on... Simone is going on vacation.

Johnny: And after that school starts

Simone: I can talk for myself. -pouts-

Tory: Okay... Simone owns nothing but the plot and...ME!?!

Simone: Suck on it! I own your ass.

Tory: -sulks- I don't like you. Cuddles! -hugs teddy bear-

Johnny: What about me? -anime tears-

Sue: You people are weird. Oh and Simone doesn't own the song 'Break the Ice' by Britney Spears

* * *

**BOLD is song lyrics**

_Italics are thoughts_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Break Me**

**Flashback:**

**Two Years Ago…**

"Why'd I agree to help you get your crap from your ex-girlfriend's place?"

"Because your CDs, DVDs and iPod are there."

"Right," Tory rolled her eyes and continued to stare at the numbers indicating the floor the elevator was on. "I really hate you, you do know that right?"

"You tell me so often it's hard to forget," Johnny sighed in relief as the elevator finally arrived and walked in. He hit the button for the twenty-sixth floor and leaned against the wall.

"How long did this one last? One and half weeks? Two?"

"Two months."

"Seriously? That's new record Johnny. I really didn't think you would make it that long with one female," Tory sighed. "At least this time you didn't cheat on her. She cheated on you with Jazz."

"Thanks. He _was_ my best friend you know."

"Hey it's not my fault you hang out with messed up people."

"Coming from Miss Perfectly Nerdy."

"Just because I graduated valedictorian of our year doesn't mean I'm a nerd. Besides I didn't pick up a textbook this year."

"Still a nerd."

"Still a jerk," Tory walked out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened and ended their conversation. "Do you at least have a key?"

"What do you think?" Johnny pulled out a key and pushed it into the lock. He opened the door and walked in, Tory decided to stand in the hallway out of sight. She really didn't want to see Kelly especially after the fight they got into on graduation night two weeks prior and the on going rivalry between the two of them since kindergarten.

"What do you want here?" Kelly's sharp voice broke the silence surrounding the twenty-sixth floor.

"What does it look like? I'm getting my stuff," Johnny's reply was short and held a bitter tone.

"Where's that slut you're with?"

"She's not a slut. Could you shut up so that I can get done faster without having to listen to your crap?"

"Why is slut-Tory waiting for you? That useless thing couldn't bed a fly. Thought she could take me on. If her little bodyguard Casey hadn't been in front of her she would have gotten what she deserved for messing with me."

"As I recall you were hiding behind Jazz while Casey held her back to stop her from giving you a broken nose to go with your blue eye, which by the way makeup can't hide."

"I knew it. You were cheating on me. No wonder you were routing for her the other night. I'm so glad that I ended it with you. You're not worth the time," Tory had had enough and walked into the apartment.

"You're right Kelly, he was cheating on you. With me," she smirked. "And it was great. Every time after we did it we would laugh about how you thought that Johnny was training. He was training... on me."

"What are you doing?" Johnny whispered in her ear.

"Roll with it," Tory turned around and kissed him. Kelly's eyes almost popped out when she saw them deepen the kiss. When Tory pulled back, she dragged her teeth along Johnny's bottom lip and licked her lips after. "Hurry up before you catch mad cow disease Johnny," she began to walk out of the apartment but stopped when she was close to Kelly. "Oh and," she punched her in the face, "I totally creamed your ass on graduation night."

"She did," Johnny grabbed the box with his stuff and threw the key next to Kelly. "You might wanna put some ice on that." He smirked and walked out of the apartment. "Thank you."

"That felt good. I should have punched her a long time ago," Tory smiled as they entered the elevator. She licked her lips, still feeling the tingling sensation that lingered from their kiss.

"Uh-huh," Johnny dropped the box and attacked her lips. He pinned her against the wall and felt her arms around his neck. When they broke apart for air they began to laugh. "I might have to hold you to what you said."

"And that would be?" Tory was still trying to catch her breath.

"I say and I quote 'Every time after we did it we would laugh about how you thought that Johnny was training. He was training on me.' Only thing is that Reed might not be happy to hear that I took your innocence."

"How bout we discuss this when we get home?" Tory said. They heard the door open and they split apart. An elderly couple walked in and smiled at them.

"We'll most definitely finish this at home," Johnny mumbled and picked up the box. He was sad to say that no matter how much his conscience told him not to, he wanted Tory. _That girl sure can kiss. I really should have kissed her a long time ago. Ladies, Johnny Storm might be off the market __permanently._

* * *

"Hmmm…" Tory moaned into the kiss. Johnny pulled back before attacking the exposed skin of her collarbone. He ran his hand down her body and smirked when she yelped. "Damn it I'm ticklish and you know it."

"I like this spot more," he disappeared under the sheets and began to lick on the skin on her side that was more ticklish as opposed to the rest of her body.

"Cut it out," Tory groaned. Why in the hell did she ever let him go further then that one kiss in Kelly's apartment was beyond her knowledge but she knew like hell that he made her want him. "I have to go to practice."

"You were just at practice," Johnny reappeared and looked into her eyes.

"Well I want that scholarship and the only way to get it is to win the Ice-Pro Finals."

"I dunno why you're worrying."

"Well I, unlike you, don't already have a scholarship. Besides, you're only in early because Sue called in a few favours."

"Babe I'm naturally talented."

"Hothead," Tory smirked. She managed to push him off her and threw her legs off the side of the bed. She pulled one of Johnny's shirts that was lying on the floor towards her and slipped it over her head before dropping the sheet covering her. Ever since everything began between the two of them, Tory found herself slowly getting used to the idea of waking up next to Johnny every morning and being his girlfriend.

"Do you have to go now babe?"

"Yeah," Tory recovered her clothes that were strewn across the room before glancing back at him.

"Why?"

"Do you want Casey ripping the front door off its hinges?"

"You're house, not mine."

"Hilarious."

"Just imagine her finding out that you're my girlfriend."

"Don't give my best friend a heart attack."

"No that would be when we tell her we're sleeping together."

"Nope that's Reed," Tory blew a kiss over her shoulder before running out the door and into her own room. She quickly got ready before grabbing her skates and running downstairs to grab a bottle of water.

"Okay, how bout I take you?"

"The rink's within walking distance," Tory spotted a cereal bar and grabbed it before walking to the front door.

"Then I'm coming to watch you."

"No."

"Why not?"

"You can watch me in the finals."

"I have my first pilot training lesson."

"Your problem not mine," Tory kissed him on the cheek before running out of the house. She jogged to the rink, arriving with a minute to spare. As she headed to the changing rooms, she was stopped by her friend Donna.

"Glad to see you so excited," Donna was the runner up for valedictorian that year. Even though the two had been intellectual rivals, they had become good friends and considered their small rivalry as a way to challenge and push the other.

"Three more days to go," Tory smiled. She bounced off into the changing rooms and changed into her practice outfit. Donna was one of her competition but she wasn't too concerned. As good as the female was, Tory outranked her by a long shot.

"Hey Tory," Casey finally arrived, CD case in hand. "Ready?"

"Hell yeah," Tory smiled. She finished lacing up her skates before walking to the edge of the rink. "I aim to win."

* * *

"_**I'll be there. My lesson finishes a half hour before you go on so I'll do my best to make it back in time."**_

"_**Promise Johnny."**_

"_**I promise babe."**_

Tory inwardly smiled. She knew she was acting like a girl with a crush but she couldn't help it. She felt like she was on cloud nine now that she was with Johnny.

"Tory."

"Reed," Tory hugged her brother and smiled. "Took you long enough. Where's Sue?"

"Um…well…"

"Well what?" Tory knew that something was wrong. Sue promised to be here. She promised that she wouldn't miss it.

"Sue and I aren't…together anymore."

"REED!" Tory took a deep breath in trying to calm herself down. She couldn't go on the ice tomorrow. She couldn't do this because all of her hard work and training was for Sue. Sue had helped her find the perfect way to put her routine together. The routine wouldn't be the same without Sue to see the result of both of their hard work. "I can't. Not without Sue and Johnny. Crap Johnny."

"Johnny's gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"He and Sue moved."

"What?" Tory slid to the ground, tears invading her eyes. She stood up and kicked off her skates before sprinting out of the rink. She ran straight home, slamming the door open and sprinting to Johnny's room. "Empty." She pulled all of the draws open and flung the cupboard doors open. Nothing but empty shelves greeted her. She flipped open her phone and dialled one of his friends. "Hey Chase."

"_Tory, is that you?"_

"Yeah. Have you seen Johnny today?"

"_Bro called an hour or so saying he was leaving for some place or the other. I thought you would know. I mean don't you live together?"_

"Yeah, thanks anyways," Tory closed her phone and sunk onto the bed. Her eyes prickled with tears and she inhaled sharply before standing up. She grabbed the sheets off the bed and ran downstairs before flinging them in the washing machine. "Asshole." After starting the wash cycle she grabbed her keys before running back to the rink.

"Tory," Reed stood as he saw her approaching. "Look-"

"I don't care Reed. I have to practice. It's the finals tomorrow and I won't lose to anyone," she grabbed her discarded skates and laced them up before moving to the ice.

* * *

"_**I promise babe."**_

_Empty promises. Lies. Every last one._ Tory sat on the waiting bench. It was almost her turn to show her routine. Donna was undoubtedly good. Kelly was just better though.

"You alright?" Casey stood next to her. Tory pulled out her earphones and looked up at her childhood friend.

"Kelly and Donna have nothing on me," Tory replied.

"Do you wanna talk about what happened?"

"Reed and Sue are apart. Reed is as good as dead to me. And I no longer share a house with Captain Hormone," Tory smiled. "That count as talking?"

"Um…sure," Casey looked at her friend. "That Russian chick is good."

"She probably grew up on the ice."

"So did you."

"…"

"_Lastly we have Miss Tory Richards,"_ the announcer called. Tory stood and walked over to the ice.

"Hope you break a leg bitch," Kelly sneered. Tory resisted the urge to punch her face since it was covered with a thick layer of makeup to hide the black eyes. That plus she would get disqualified for violent behaviour.

"Hope you burn in hell. Oh wait you will," Tory smirked and stepped onto the ice.

"_Miss Richards is the favourite for this competition and many people are here supporting her. If she wins this, not only does she win the scholarship but she becomes one of the world's best figure skaters and the international champion figure skater."_

"Okay Tory, don't stuff this up," she murmured to herself as she skated around the rink a few times to get ready. Her legs felt like they were on fire from the non-stop training that she had done the day before to get her mind off things.

**It's been a while**

**I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting**

**But I'm here now**

**I know it's been a while**

**But I'm glad you came**

**And I've been thinking bout**

**How you said my name**

Tory moved to the rhythm of the music, movements perfectly synchronised. She executed each move just as she practiced, not missing a single beat. She knew that she could pull this routine off. She had been training for weeks on end to perfect it.

"GO TORY!"

"KICK ASS RICHARDS!"

"YOU CAN DO IT!" the cheers from the crowd did little to distract her and she continued on with her routine.

"Come on," she did a double axel a few feet away from the judges table and looked up quickly to glance at their expressions before continuing. Looking up though was a big mistake. The empty chairs behind the judges table belonged to Sue and Johnny. Tory cringed slightly before becoming angry. The pain in her right leg throbbed but she ignored it. She still had to perform her combo and then the competition would be hers.

**Let me break the ice**

**Allow me to get you right**

**Won't you warm up to me?**

**Baby I can make you feel**

_Triple axel, triple toe loop, spin and double axel-_

"AH!" Tory screamed in pain as she landed on her right leg. She fell forward and slid across the ice. Her body hit the barrier and she howled in pain. She clutched her leg and tried to grit her teeth to prevent the screams from escaping her. All she could see was white and the pain in her leg was excruciating.

"Tory," Casey slid along the ice until she was next to her.

"It hurts," Tory managed to whimper. She tried to push back the pain and stop herself from sobbing.

"It's okay Tory."

"Reed," Tory felt him move her hands away from her leg and he held them in one of his while stroking her hair with the other.

"It'll be okay Tory," Reed whispered. She knew he was lying. Anyone who had ever so much as tried to pull off something so complicated in such a short period of time was crazy and bound to break their landing leg.

"Can we lift you onto the stretcher Miss Richards?" Tory assumed it was a paramedic. She nodded her head and held back her cries as she was moved onto the stretcher. They moved her to the paramedics waiting on the other side of the barrier and proceeded to carry her to the medical team that was waiting.

* * *

Johnny looked out of the car window as the world passed him by. Sue was driving at a snail's pace and he was getting agitated. He glanced down at his watch and frowned. Round about now Tory would have finished her routine.

"Did you have to drag me with you?"

"You wanted to learn. It's closer to NASA if you stay with me."

"So what?" Johnny frowned and continued to look out of the window.

"Look I know you're leaving all of your friends but this is for the best."

"For you or for me? You and I both know that the only reason you're doing this is because you're upset with Reed. What about Tory?"

"It's for the best."

"No it isn't. She expected you to be there. I promised I would be there."

"Like you keep your promises Johnny. You should be the last one speaking. Don't be such a hypocrite. You make plenty of promises that you don't keep."

"Guess it must run in the family then."

"Stop acting like a child."

"You're acting like the child Sue. You're the one who's running away and you're dragging me with you."

"That's enough Johnny."

"Yes _mom_," Johnny pulled out his iPod and earphones and began to blast the first thing that came on. _Sorry Tory. I hope you can forgive me._

* * *

"No, no, no, no, no. There has to be something you can do. My life is useless unless I can skate. I can't-no!" Tory looked ready to burst into tears. She was currently sitting in a hospital room with a cast on her right leg.

"I'm sorry Miss Richards but because of the amount of times that your right leg has been broken, the bones are weak. If you have to compete like that again then the chances of it breaking again will increase more and more. One more break as serious as this and all the others and your bones would never be able to heal properly. It would pain you to walk."

"What if I used my left leg to land? That could work."

"The impact from your fall splintered your bone. If you skate again the chances of that happening again are far too great. Even a small fall could cause your leg to be damaged beyond repair."

"You don't understand. Skating is my life. Without it I have no purpose. Ever since I could walk I've been on the ice. It's a part of me. I can't live without being able to skate."

"Miss Richards you can't-"

"Please. I'm begging you. I don't care what you do. All I want is to skate."

"I'm sorry Miss Richards."

"Save your apologies," Tory grabbed the crutches and began to move out of the hospital room. Reed and Casey were standing outside waiting for her but she ignored them and continued to move along. After breaking her leg so many times, she was used to crutches. _Guess I have to get used to having four legs again._

* * *

**Eight Weeks Later**

"So Miss Richards how does it feel to walk on your own two feet?"

"Shuddup Casey."

"Sheesh no need to get all emo on me."

"Sorry," Tory sighed. College started the following day and the pair were in their new apartment getting ready. Tory had accepted that Johnny couldn't stay with a single person for long and she had moved on with her life. She still hadn't forgiven Reed for giving up Sue over something so stupid.

"So how bout that party tonight?"

"You go. I'm not feeling up to it. I think I'll just watch cartoons."

"They'll turn your brain to mush."

"As if," Tory stuck her tongue out. Casey grabbed her jacket before waving goodbye and closing the door. Tory waited a good few minutes before grabbing her own jacket and keys and leaving the apartment. When she got into the elevator she didn't notice the person standing next to her.

"Ignoring me now Tory?"

"Huh?" she looked up and noticed the person next to her. "Sorry Chase. Didn't see you there."

"Jeez Tory, I'm not that had to miss," Chase smiled.

"True. You're like a freaking skyscraper," Tory smiled as well. Chase was a 6 foot 1 brunette hunk. Between his muscled build, captivating sky blue eyes and chocolate brown locks that fell over his eyes he was gorgeous. "You know, I've never noticed but you look like Zac Efron."

"Don't compare me with that guy-girl-whatever he is," Tory giggled at Chase's expression.

"Okay then Light Yagami from Death Note."

"The anime?"

"One in the same."

"But they're getting Zac Efron to play him."

"Didn't know you were interested in that kinda thing."

"Shhhh…Don't tell anyone my secret."

"Okay then but in all fairness Light is sexy."

"They're getting a gay boy to play a killer. Maybe he'll burst out singing every time he kills," both of them began to laugh at the mental image.

"I think I'm gonna stick to the anime. Let's not ruin the image with that."

"Too true," the elevator stopped on ground level. "Where you heading Tory?"

"Don't tell anyone but I'm heading to the ice rink."

"I thought you weren't allowed to skate again."

"Does it look like I care?"

"Then let me go with you."

"I'll be fine. Don't let me interfere with your plans for the last night of freedom."

"Tory," Chase gave her a look.

"Fine then," and with that the pair began walking to the ice rink. Thankfully when they got there, there wasn't anyone on the ice. Tory went to hire a pair of skates while Chase watched her. "So who won the finals?"

"You didn't hear?"

"No one would tell me."

"Well Kelly was given the scholarship but you won."

"Point difference and no one bothered to tell me this," Tory frowned as she laced up the skates. "Not like I can compete ever again. Heck I'm not supposed to be on the ice."

"Then why are you risking this?"

"Skating was all I ever thought about. If I don't try I'll never know if I'd be able to do the impossible and skate again."

"Don't be an idiot," Chase tried to catch her before she got onto the ice but it was too late.

"See I can to the basics," Tory moved back and forth but she hid the pain she felt with a smile. Her right leg was throbbing and the pressure was intense. She moved to do a figure 8 but she slipped and fell flat on her ass.

"Jeez," Chase ran onto the ice in his sneakers and pulled her up. "Don't you think you're pushing it?"

"I'm fine. I just slipped," Tory moved away and leaned on her left leg. She felt slight relief since her weight was not being balanced on her left leg and on her right. She skated a distance away before turning and moving to do an axel. "Damn it." She landed on her right leg and fell to the ice.

"Tory that's enough," Chase moved to her and picked her up before moving to the barrier and jumping over before lifting her over. "Do you want to damage your leg beyond repair?"

"If it means skating then yes."

"Don't be a dumbass."

"It's all I've been good at," Tory sniffed. Chase picked her up and sat her down on the stands before removing her skates and looking at her leg.

"You're good at plenty of other things," he let out a breath in relief to see that it was just slightly swollen and she hadn't damaged it again. "You're a great designer. I mean my sister worships your designs. And you're smart. I've never met someone with such good grades and you have so many talents that _don't_ include ice and skating."

"Really?"

"Do you seriously doubt yourself that much?" Chase sighed. "Look I think you're pretty amazing even if you don't skate."

"How great?" Tory asked. Chase smiled.

"Don't push your luck. I can praise you only so much before going overboard."

"Fine," Tory pouted. "But since you're being so kind you can take me to get some ice-cream."

"Again with ice."

"It's frozen flavoured milk."

"Good point," Chase went and retrieved her shoes before picking her up piggy back. "Only on one condition though."

"Hmmm…"

"You let me take you out for dinner on Friday."

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Maybe," Chase began to blush.

"Fine," Tory smiled. "But you can never tell anyone about the rink thing that happened."

"Done. Now let's get that ice-cream."

* * *

"Johnny," the female whined. Said male ignored her and picked up a bottle of water. Modelling irritated him when he was surrounded by the clingy ones. It was fine when the models were a bit of a challenge or at least pretended to be hard to get but the ones that threw themselves at him-

"Urgh," he flipped open his cell and contemplated on phoning Tory. _By now she hates me._

"Mr Storm you're on next," one of the photographers called out.

"Yeah, yeah," he flipped his phone shut.

"Hey Johnny," he turned to find himself looking at one of his friends.

"Paul, what are you doing here? Manhattan too boring for you?"

"My sis pulled a few strings since I'm talented with a camera and landing me this gig. I gotta be back in Manhattan soon though. College started two weeks ago and I'm pushing my luck by being here."

"How's everyone?"

"Well everyone's partying their asses off tonight without me. Tory broke her leg in the finals but she won. Casey well she's Casey. Chase is going out with Tory now and-"

"Chase and Tory?"

"Yeah bro, everyone is like all mushy over it. All the girls think it's they're so 'compatible' or whatever."

"Uh-huh," Johnny's fist clenched. _Of course she's moved on._

"If you ask me it was only a matter of time. I mean Chase's liked her since forever and it took him a while to finally ask her out."

"Yeah."

"Mr Storm, we're ready for you now."

"I'm coming."

"I won't hold you up any longer bro. I got me some half naked females to photograph. Later man," Paul waved over his shoulder as he ran off. Johnny stood for a second letting everything sink in.

"Hey Karla, you busy after this?" _Girls Johnny Storm is single and plans on being available for a long time._

* * *

**AN:** So this chapter explored what happened in the past with Tory and Johnny. For the sake of things they were both eighteen there. Next chapter will be back to present time. Please review. They keep me motivated and inspired.

~Simone;P


	6. Confined

Hey guys. Sorry this took so long – 11 months OMG. After several mental debates and running through many scenarios I finally decided on this chapter. I'm not entirely happy about it but oh well...I won't keep you waiting any longer.

I've decided that I want to keep this fic T rated. Anything higher just won't fit with the way I want this to come out.

Enough ranting and on with the show...

Disclaimer: I own the Fantastic Four in the distant future...o.O

Dedicated to: Everyone reading the chapter. I hope you all like it

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**Chapter 6**

**Confined**

"Okay Tory, I want you to breathe and be calm," Reed's voice came over the speaker.

"Easy for you to say Einstein," Tory sighed and closed her eyes. Breathing in and out, letting her breathing calm and allowing her body to relax, Tory stood and waited for further instructions.

"What do you feel?"

"Boredom."

"Not what I meant."

"Fine, the sensor-thingy is irritating me."

"I meant anything to do with your powers."

"Then be more specific," Tory stayed silent for a few seconds before shaking her head. "I don't feel a thing Reed. Maybe it's broken or something."

"Open your eyes."

"Okay," Tory slowly opened her eyes and was met with white. It took a while to register that is was actually snow. "Reed…"

"See what you can subconsciously do while you're calm."

"Wonderful. Now get rid of it," Tory shifted from foot to foot.

"Why don't you?"

"I hate you," Tory mentally pictured the snow melting and reforming over Reed's head. She let out a chuckle and looked into the observation deck to see Reed covered with snow.

"Nice one babe," Johnny walked into the room. Tory glared at him for a second before letting out another chuckle as Johnny was pelted with hail. Tory watched the hail melt as it hit him. "That was cold"

"Serves you right."

"Enough fooling around," Reed spoke over the speaker. "Tory I want you to see just how much you can control you powers. Johnny, come up here unless you want to be a frozen flame."

"Good logic Reed," Johnny bolted up the stairs, not wanting to get terrorised by precipitation.

"Here I go," Tory relaxed her body before imagining the iceberg at the poles and the glaciers residing in the ocean. She felt the air around her get cooler.

"Tory that's enough."

She didn't hear Reed's voice, she was far too relaxed to hear anything around her. She felt like her body was weightless and that all of her troubles were fading away with each passing second.

"Tory."

Slowly she could feel herself drifting off as though she were sitting on a cloud and floating. Tory slowly opened her eyes and saw her body floating in mid-air.

"Cool," she felt the temperature around her drop even further and the sound of something cracking floated echoed through the lab.

Reed watched as the sensors on Tory froze and broke off before the equipment around her began to crack.

"Johnny I need you to go down there and warm things up."

"Down there nu-uh," Johnny groaned and ran out of the observation deck. He hopped over the rail and started to warm things up.

Tory watched as Johnny made his way towards her and as he reached her, she fell into his arms.

"Damn it Tory, you're freezing," Johnny pulled her flush against him and rubbed her arms to get them warm again.

"Stop burning me dumbass," Tory mumbled. She used what strength she had to move away from him.

"That is something you are **not** doing again," Reed called from the top of the stairs.

"Uh-huh."

"Whoa what happened here?" Sue walked in to find puddles of water and a good portion of the lab frozen.

"My bad," Tory called. She dropped to her knees and willed all of the ice around her to melt and evaporate.

"Not bad," Johnny pulled her to her feet and helped her walk towards the stairs.

"Now will you make it go away?" Tory glanced up at Reed.

"I can try."

"Mmmn," Tory elbowed Johnny weakly. "Don't get any ideas but I need you to help me get to my room."

"Wouldn't dream of it Popsicle."

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"No freaking ways in hell!" Tory protested. "I can't believe this but I agree with Johnny. You can keep us in this place forever. I have places to be and not to mention people to see."

"What you wanna stuck face with Chase? By the way how's he doing?" Ben asked.

"Thanks for sticking up for me Benny," Tory sighed and leaned on Ben's shoulders. They were all currently in the kitchen being told they were pretty much forbidden from going outside.

"Look Tory I know you had plans but you really need to stay inside," Reed tried to explain.

"I have a doctor's appointment in a few hours. I am _**not**_ rescheduling understand. I had to wait until your ultra fun –note the sarcasm –space trip was over so that I could go."

"You plan your doctor's appointments?" Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Yes as a matter of fact I do," Tory gave him a dirty look. "Gotta a problem with it?"

"Nope."

"Is there no way for you to reschedule?" Reed quickly dismissed the idea when he saw the look that Tory gave him.

As Tory was about to say something else, the elevator dinged signalling that there was a visitor. Everyone moved in view of the hallway before Tory let out a squeal and launched herself at the person standing there.

"Guess you missed me," Chase smiled and kissed Tory.

"You have no idea what torture this is."

"Ehem," Johnny cleared his throat loudly, making sure his presence was known.

"Johnny," Chase looked passed Tory's head to see the other male. "Been a while."

"Yeah."

"Chase Bedford?" Sue asked with a smile.

"Hiya Sue," Chase untangled himself from Tory and gave Sue a hug before shaking Ben, Reed and Johnny's hands.

"No wonder Tory wanted to get out of here," Sue laughed.

"Tory didn't mention you were coming," Johnny said wryly.

"I wanted to surprise her," Chase replied. "Her phone's been off and after seeing the news the other night I wanted to be here to support her."

"Hmmm," Johnny turned and walked off.

"Okay," Tory rolled her eyes at his childish behaviour before turning her attention back to Chase.

"You have your appointment today don't you?"

"Plan on coming?"

"Naturally."

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Victor walked around his office. He was deep in thought and dare anyone bother him, they would feel his wrath. After pacing around his desk for what was probably the hundredth time, he stopped and turned his attention to the screens on the wall panel.

He was getting more and more pissed off with the publicity of the Fantastic Five and the negative publicity his company was getting. He picked his an award that was place on his desk and got ready to throw when a particular screen caught his eye.

The recording of Tory's test was playing and it was enough to distract him from his rage for the time being.

"Well now would you look at that?" he asked, speaking aloud.

Picking up one of the remotes, he rewound the recording and watched the tantrum that Tory had.

"Now that is definitely interesting."

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Tory was getting irritated with the mass of clothes on her person. She was hot and bothered and it didn't help that she looked like she was dressed for the Arctic.

Scratching the itchy material, she sighed before continuing to walk down the street. The only way that Reed would allow her to go out was if she was dressed so that no one would recognise her.

"Stop scratching," Chase ordered, pulling her hand away from her arm.

"It's hot and getting seriously itchy."

"You chose to wear it."

"Under normal circumstances, this would be fine but it's just too damn hot."

Tory stuck out her tongue before her eye caught the ice-cream parlour sign. She let out a squeal of joy before grabbing Chase's arm and dragging him across the street to the multicoloured building.

The tinkling of the bell sounded before Tory was instantly cooled down by the air-conditioning. Flashing a smile of contempt to Chase, she bounced toward the front counter. Ordering a double toffee fudge for herself and a rum and raisin for Chase, she navigated her way to an empty table.

"Reed's gonna be mad," Chase pointed out as he slid into the seat opposite her.

"We took a _slight_ detour. He can just suffer," Tory smiled. She peeled her jacket of her body and brushed away the hair that had fallen into her eyes.

"You're taking the rap for this, not me."

Tory gave him a grin before glancing at the waitress that was walking towards them. Attacking her ice-cream the moment it arrived, she sighed in joy as the cool flavoured treat hit her taste buds.

Chase watched her eat for a moment before speaking up, "Johnny looked far from impressed that I showed up."

"Mo?" Tory looked at him with a mouthful of ice-cream.

"Well it's not like I did anything to piss him off."

Swallowing the mass of ice-cream in her mouth, Tory took a moment before answering. "In a way, he's…jealous."

"Why?"

"It might have something to do with trying to get into my pants from the second he saw me again."

"That explains a lot."

Tory ate another spoonful. "He's not getting anywhere soon though. I already have my sights set on someone else." And with that, proceeded to commence the attack on her ice-cream.

"You're gonna get brain freeze," Chase warned.

"Bring it on!"

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Johnny listened to the roar of the engine and let out a grin at just how good it felt to be driving such a sweet ride.

He had gotten annoyed with Reed's no-going-out rule and the fact that Chase pitched up and Tory just disappeared with him, irked him to no end.

What the hell? The dipshit even had the nerve to try to be nice to him. Okay given that they were something akin to friends years ago that gave him no freaking right to try especially when he knew that going out with Tory was forbidden territory.

Johnny pulled up next to the entrance of the ESPN Games tent that was the centre of the ESPN Games. Getting out of the car and heading straight to the employee's entrance, Johnny could feel the adrenaline building up in his veins.

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Ben was heading toward the kitchen when he heard the ding of the elevator and a moment later, Tory stepped into the apartment.

"Where's lover boy?"

"Chase had things to take care of," Tory bounced around the entrance.

"You look like a bunny."

Tory instantly stopped bouncing around and gave him a sceptical look. She stuck out her tongue and Ben laughed at her childish antics. Smiling at the male, Tory walked up to him before peeling off her jacket. She took hold of one of his arms and lifted it. Ben was now thoroughly interested in what she was doing and snapped when she used his arm as a coat rack. Giggling and running off, Ben yelled after her, "I'm gonna kill you, you little brat."

"Love you too Benny," she blew him a kiss before jumping over the couch.

At that moment, Sue poked her head into the room. "Has anyone seen Johnny?"

"Nope," Tory answered but after a second a thought occurred to her. "Uh-oh!"

"What? Did something happen?" Sue asked worriedly.

"The ESPN Games are on," Tory gave her a panicked look.

Sue let out a sigh of relief before making her way to the stairs. She froze in mid-step when she heard the commentator on the channel Tory had flipped to.

"_That's old school. Show us something new Johnny!"_

"Uh-oh," Tory muttered when she heard the sound of Sue letting out a low growl.

The three of them crowded around the screen as Johnny flew into the air with a trail of fire behind him.

"Oh no he didn't," Sue said, shaking her head.

"Oh yes he did."

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Tory was twitching in anger by the time they had reached the Games. The second she saw Johnny, she walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his spacesuit.

"_**Ice**_ _**Princess**_? Your…_lover_," she spat at him. "_What_ the _hell_ were you thinking! No wait don't answer that because _clearly_ you WERE NOT thinking AT ALL!"

"Nice to see you too honey," Johnny gave her his famous smirk.

"Hehe," Tory chuckled and gave him a smile before punching him in the face. "Don't damn well honey me you egotistic jackoff! Not only did you publically humiliate all of us you also go and NATIONALLY humiliate Ben. How insensitive can you get? Again don't answer that."

"Johnny, you had no right to do that," Reed commented from behind Tory.

"And you had no right to give us names," Sue gave him a glare.

"I-"

Johnny was cut off when a red ball of metal came flying at his head. Dodging the incoming mass, Johnny turned to look at what it was. As he did, a number plate came flying at his head.

"What the hell! That was my car!"

"It's scrap now," Ben huffed.

"What the hell was that for?"

"The _Thing_!"

"That was my car."

"Oh well…" Ben turned and began to walk off when a fireball hit the back of his head. "Did you just-" Another hit him square in the face.

"Whatcha gonna do pebbles?" Johnny smirked.

Ben narrowed his eyes and began to run up to Johnny, fist ready for the punch. Reed stepped in between the pair of them only for Ben to carry on running.

"You wanna fly Tinkerbell? Then FLY!"

Ben sent his punch straight through Reed's body and sent Johnny flying into the board behind him.

"Oh it's on!" Johnny hopped down from the board and began stalking up to Ben.

"Both of you need a time out!" Sue cut the two off by trying to push them apart.

Ben huffed and looked down at the petite female between them before turning and walking off. Sue, concerned about him, ran after Ben.

"Johnny, you need to be more responsible with your abilities. They're not something to mess with or to use to have fun with and get fame and girls," Reed scolded.

"Is there anything better Reed?" Johnny asked. "You should enjoy it. It's like a gift from God. Or better yet embrace it."

As he finished, Reed was left speechless. Johnny turned and walked off somewhere, followed by a crowd of fan girls.

"Come on Reed," Tory pulled at her brother's shoulder. "We should go before publicity becomes more…extreme than it already is."

"Yeah," Reed trailed after her.

"Oh and don't worry," Tory spoke while flexing her fingers. "I'll beat the snot out of Johnny later. He's gotta go to sleep some time or the other."

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An: I hope you all enjoyed. Please drop a review and tell me how it was. I'll try me best to type up the next chapter as soon as possible but I want to update all of my stories first before moving onto the next chapter.  
^_~


	7. Musing Of A Future

Hi everyone. Sorry that it's taken so long to update. I had been fooling around on my computer a while back and somehow managed to delete all of the stories that I had written so I've been spending time recovering and rewriting whatever I could. Obviously everything can't be recovered but oh well... It was one way of getting rid of story ideas that were just lying around with no direction.

I decided that in this chapter I would spend a little time on the other characters and ignore Johnny and Tory for a bit. Everyone deserves a bit of rambling and what better way to build up towards the climax of the story than to get all relevant points of view in order before moving forward. That and the fact that after watching the movie again, I felt like I had severely overlooked Reed, Sue, Ben and Victor in all of the previous chapters and needed to do something to make it up to them.

So without further ado, here's chapter 7. I hope you all enjoy and haven't given up on this story yet.

_**Disclaimer**_: I could only dream about creating characters as brilliant as the Fantastic 4. I do however own both movies on DVD.

_**Dedicated to**_: Novella Vialli; WWE-Little-Angel; For The Love Of Cheese; johnnysgirrl13; ; Autobot Fixit; xrachelgunterx; gypsywoman1; Ichi Sohma and Shades-Soul – your reviews kept me motivated and I promise that the next chapter will hold lots of JohnnyxTory fluff.

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_**Previously**_:

"_Both of you need a time out!" Sue cut the two off by trying to push them apart._

_Ben huffed and looked down at the petite female between them before turning and walking off. Sue, concerned about him, ran after Ben._

"_Johnny, you need to be more responsible with your abilities. They're not something to mess with or to use to have fun with and get fame and girls," Reed scolded._

"_Is there anything better Reed?" Johnny asked. "You should enjoy it. It's like a gift from God. Or better yet embrace it."_

_As he finished, Reed was left speechless. Johnny turned and walked off somewhere, followed by a crowd of fan girls._

"_Come on Reed," Tory pulled at her brother's shoulder. "We should go before publicity becomes more…extreme than it already is."_

"_Yeah," Reed trailed after her._

"_Oh and don't worry," Tory spoke while flexing her fingers. "I'll beat the snot out of Johnny later. He's gotta go to sleep some time or the other."_

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**Chapter 7**

**Musing of a Future**

-Ben-

Stalking down the streets and ignoring the looks that people were giving him, Ben allowed his feet to guide him down a rather familiar path. Johnny's little stunt had given him quite a bit to think over and quite frankly, the hothead had been the unfortunate individual –despite deserving it- that he had taken his temper out on.

It was getting to him that he looked like a freak when the rest of them looked just fine. There was nothing wrong with them on the outside – none of them looked any different compared to before. It was just him that looked like a freak.

Sending a glance up to the heavens above, he once again asked the big guy upstairs what had he ever done to tick him off. It's not like he had gone around causing trouble. Before this all happened, he was a dedicated lover, a loyal best friend and an honest taxpayer. He had never indulged himself into the world of money, pleasure and immorality unlike Johnny.

Reaching his destination, Ben walked into the bar that he had often found himself visiting when he was in need of a drink after a long day to relax. He immediately felt the numerous eyes that fell upon him as he entered and he subconsciously tugged his hat down to try and block out the gazes that were focused on him.

Walking up to the bar, he gave his friend, Ernie, a look before sitting down on one of the wooden chairs only to have it collapse under his weight. Landing on the floor with a booming thud, Ben heard the snickers of the patrons around him. Moving to pick himself up, he made up his mind to shut them up despite his lack of confidence in himself.

"That's not funny," he stated.

"This is Ben Grimm here," Ernie informed the patrons, "the first mook from Brooklyn to go into outer space. So pay him some respect."

Thankful to Ernie for standing up for him but not wanting to cause any trouble, Ben asked for his usual with the intention of drinking the burning liquid and getting the hell out of this place. Looking at his hands, Ben decided that he deserved a bit of a treat and instead asked for a double shot of whiskey.

It was at that moment that a female at that sat towards the back of the bar spoke up and offered him a triple shot of whiskey, telling Ernie to put it on her tab. Grunting a thanks towards the woman, Ben noticed that she wasn't focused on anything particular and the glassed over look in her eyes led him to find that she was blind.

Raising the glass of whiskey to drink, Ben was startled when the glass shattered under his touch. Glancing once more up to the heavens, Ben spoke his thoughts out loud.

"If there's a God, he hates me."

"She is not so into hate," the blind woman, Alicia spoke.

Ben huffed, "You wouldn't be saying that if you could see me."

"Then let me see you," Alicia spoke, gathering her things with a smile. "Can I?"

Alicia's hands began to roam his chest, up to his neck and then lastly, his face. She huffed at his sad expression before telling him that being different wasn't all that bad.

"This ain't one of those times," Ben replied to her, pulling her hands away from him in the process.

"It's only a big situation if you want it to be," she told him before leaving. Just before she left the pub, she turned around and told him with a smile, "I'm Alicia by the way."

Ben let a small smile tug at his lips. Maybe there was some hope to this situation after all.

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-Victor-

Taking calculated steps towards the screens that had been set up to monitor the Baxter building, Victor mused his frustrations at Reed out aloud.

"Reed got what he wanted," he spat. "And everything he wanted he got from me."

Pulling his gloves off, Victor threw them at the wall before turning back to the screen. With full intention of getting everything that Reed took back, Victor decided that he needed to get rid of Ben – he was the only hindrance that could put any sort of dent in his plan to take it all back.

Johnny was too much of a hot head to pose any real threat and could be easily disposed of. Tory didn't even want her abilities to begin with and couldn't even control them let alone do anything productive with them. Besides, he had always held a soft spot for the girl since she had a severe dislike for her brother's abnormal ways. Sue shouldn't pose much of a problem since her powers were still rather unstable due to her emotions.

All that left was Reed – whom he had a rather creative solution to fix – and Ben who would be the easiest one to get to. Ah how he loved how simple this really was – an emotionally wrecked rock – just chip a crack in it and watch the results as it crushed itself.

This was simply too easy.

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-Reed-

Reed could barely keep his eyes open. This was getting too much for him. While his brain tried its hardest to keep up with his extreme thought process, there was just only so much it could do before TKO.

Leaning back on his chair, he thought back to the experiments that himself and Sue had conducted to find out just what had been affected in each of them.

Ben was a complete rock – and not in an insulting way either. Thanks to the rays, every single part of Ben from his skin to his arteries were completely solidified and well... rocky. Talk about a bodyguard.

Johnny – well he was Johnny. Other than the ability to go supernova hot he was convinced that he could fly. Considering the physics behind the force of his flames, theoretically, if Johnny got hot enough, he could fly. Since he was make good progress in controlling his powers and after the ESPN X-Games, Reed concluded that soon enough he might just be able to properly fly.

Tory was another case. She had repressed herself into this anti-social being that locked herself up in her room for the past few weeks and when she finally decided that she wanted to go out well Johnny kinda was Johnny.

Thinking about it now, Tory had gone to a doctor's appointment with Chase didn't she? He decided to ask her about it at a later stage since she had wandered out somewhere to presumably find Johnny and punch him in the face again.

Then there was Sue. Reed thought about how angry she had gotten at him and the reaction she had. She was pissed at him for what had happened and there was nothing he could do to make it up to her. He had been afraid of commitment and he was ashamed to admit that he was terrified of what sharing an apartment would lead to.

Reed shook his head at how ridiculous the whole thing sounded and ran a hand through his hair out of pure frustration. He mentally shook himself silly for being such a sissy and not growing a pair and for losing Sue. It was his fault that their relationship had ended and he knew that all he wanted with every fibre in his being was her.

He had to make it up to her – to show her that he was still very much in love with her without stuttering like a moron and speaking in such terms that he began to convince himself that it was a bad idea. Maybe if he wrote her a letter explaining the algorithms of how his heart beat for her- He could hear Tory berating him for that one.

Dropping his head to his keyboard, he gave a grunt of frustration. A small nap might clear his head.

_-_O_-__**p**__-p-_o_-__**s**__-i-_t_-__**e**__-s-_A_-__**t**__-t-_r_-__**a**__-c-_t_-__**O**__-p-_p_-__**o**__-s-_i_-__**t**__-e-_s_-__**A**__-t-_t_-__**r**__-a-_c_-__**t**__-_

-Sue-

Wandering aimlessly down the streets, Sue thought about what Ben had said to her earlier. She sighed at how thoughtless she had been in assuming that he was alright. It had never fully dawned on her how he had felt about other people's reactions to him. For her, he was still Ben and nothing, not even a visible change could change the person he is or the heart that he possessed.

Continuing her thoughts, she shifted uncomfortably under her jacket. She could practically feel people's eyes on her – watching her every move. It creeped her out that people had nothing better to do than stare at someone who was different. That thought made her think about Ben once more and how the stares must effect him.

Thinking back to a few days ago when she had stopped by a newspaper stand to see if there was anything interesting going on in the world and how she had been harassed by people, Sue realised that she would never get to live a normal life again.

Sure Reed might be able to turn them back to the way that they were before but people would still remember them and the freaks that they were. Shaking her head to rid that thought she reprimanded herself for thinking like that. They were not freaks just people who were different.

Deciding on her resolve to look at this thing in a more positive outlook from now on, Sue stopped walking with the flow of people. A few bumped into her while others walked around her.

Turning and walking against the flow of people she smiled. It was time that she took her situation and turned it into something good. There was no reason that she couldn't come out of this thing smiling.

And if, for some reason or the other that Reed couldn't fix this problem, she might as well get used to being invisible. There was no reason she couldn't be invisible and still not be seen. She would just have to make the world see just who she is.

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_**An:**** I hope that this chapter gave everyone a peek inside of Reed, Sue, Ben and Victor's heads. I apologise for the lateness of the chapter and I hope that it doesn't feel like a filler. I start my senior year of school on Wednesday so I might take a while to update again but I have made this story my top priority to complete. I will try my hardest to update faster since I know I'll end up writing notes about all of my stories on the corners of my book pages :)**_

_**Something that I need to know from all of those who are still reading is whether or not you would be interested in a sequel or if I should end it without considering the second movie. I have an idea for both possibilities but I need help in deciding in whether a sequel would be welcomed or not. It also tells me just how far I can take Johnny and Tory's relationship in this story. Let me know what you think.**_

_**~Simone ^_~**_


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